The Truth
by The Smiling Shadow
Summary: The final battle with Neo and Smith in a way you've never seen it before. Through their own words they reveal the truth about themselves and what they're fighting for. This is the truth. The truth on who they are and what they become. The true Superbrawl


The Truth

This is it. This is the end. All has come to this. Casualties have been made. Zion's future lies in the hands of The One. The Sentinels stare at the remaining humans. They will kill them easily. Then a voice calls to them. Tells them to stop. The voice so powerful and ominous, they lover whatever their heads are in obedience. It was the voice of Neo. And the all know it.

This is the end.

The world is over as we know it. No longer do you possess a face, an identity, anything that makes you, you. You are Smith now. The world is Smith now. Your face is his. Your clothes are his suit. Your eyes are blue, not that you bother to show anyone that. And now there's gun in your hand.

No. There's not a gun in your hand, there's a gun in Smith's hands. You're dead.

And the world is over. It will end in the rain. It will end tonight.

Smith and all his copies invade the world. And stare at the one man that started this. Mr. Anderson. Some smiling, they're going to win. Some nodding, yes, Mr. Anderson you're going to die. Some angry, you've put us through so much, Mr. Anderson.

Neo stops. And Smith comes to him.

"Mr. Anderson, welcome back. We missed you. Like what I've done with the place? I like it this way. The rain reminds me of the code. And the cold reminds me of myself. It's even more beautiful this way. It's not a zoo anymore. It's my zoo. No more humans. No more smells." Smith welcomes him.

"It ends tonight." Neo says. "It has to end. I have nothing left. Trinity is dead. And she set me free in her death. You hold no power over me now, Smith." Neo replies.

"I know it does, I've seen it. That's why the rest of me is just going to enjoy the show, we already know I'm the one that beats you. Of course I cannot see beyond choices I don't understand. And since I'm part of you, I cannot see beyond the choice you don't understand, Mr. Anderson. So really I don't see myself win. Too bad I'm too blind with power to see that."

"Too bad." Neo nods.

Neo took a part of the Source when he revived himself in that hallway. And gave a part of the Source, along with part of himself, to Smith. And that is how Smith has become what he is. Through this exchange Smith was able to realize he didn't have to choose deletion in order to escape the smells. He could choose Exile, and give himself a new purpose. Because it is purpose that drives him. Without purpose, Smith would surely crumble. Just like a computer has a crash. And Neo was able to have such a connection with the machines. And now he has used that cold, that nothing Smith felt to stare at him, and truly feel nothing.

Trinity is gone, there's nothing left.

Inside Neo is a part of Smith, and inside Smith is a part of Neo. Inside them both is the Source.

This one Smith will fight Neo. Although he is not the original Smith. He is a copy born from part of the Oracle. Smith is gone. Forgotten among the millions of copies. The original probably doesn't even remember he is the original. Because no longer is Smith bound to one shell. He is many. They are all Smith. His conscious is in all of them.

And so it begins. The fight that will end it all. The battle that only machine eyes will watch. The fight so similar to their first meeting. It is how the Matrix seems to work. It all goes back to the beginning. Zion is destroyed again, and it is built again from the beginning. The Matrix reboots back to the beginning. We saw Trinity at room 303, and it is that room where Neo dies. We return again to the beginning. This fight. The beginning of the end.

From delusion lead me to truth.

From darkness lead me to light.

From death lead me to immortality.

And they run at each other, in a slowed time. The moments we are given are meant for us to realize the words unspoken.

"Do you know why I call you Mr. Anderson?" Smith yells throwing a punch.

"We all believe it is to annoy me." Neo says blocking it.

"No, not at all. I respect you, Mr. Anderson. I hate you and I respect you." He kicks Neo. "I respect that you could allude your death by me for so long. I respect that you could kill me. I respect the fact you gave a part of yourself to me! Mr. Anderson, I respect you. But now you have to die!"

Then they punch each other at the same time. The force of their power, the force of the Source meeting throws them back. Neo lands on his feet. And Smith lands on his back. Not that it really matters.

And now they show, they both can break the rules of the system. They grew wings that you cannot see, and they defy the system, this is truly freedom. They fly into the sky, and fight.

Lightning flashes, and there is thunder. The rain falls down in Smith's world.

Then Smith grabs Neo and throws him into what is the Dojo inside the Matrix. And Smith floats there for a second, and wipes off the rain in his suit. He wipes the code off his suit. Because the Matrix, the system is nothing to him now. It's his now.

Let it be known as Neo lay there on the ground, he shed blood. He shed blood for you.

Smith comes to him, standing above him, rather enjoying this. Watching Neo die slowly. Loosing the life, trying to hold on, and letting go. How pathetic humans are, Smith thinks. It is inevitable after all.

"Can you feel it Mr. Anderson, closing in on you? Oh, well I can. I really should thank you, after all it was your life that taught me the purpose of all life. The purpose of life is to die." Smith says.

Neo looks up at him, struggling to get up.

"I'm right aren't I? After all you hold no other purpose. I sit here in my world for hours, trying to comprehend it. You are not mammals, you are viruses. It is fascinating that you have survived all these years. You hold nothing in life. What is your purpose!? What is the purpose, the meaning of life!? Answer me, Mr. Anderson. Tell me! I'm not alive! I'm not like you! I'm dead. I have a purpose! I have no life in me! I have purpose, yours is to die!" Smith yells.

And Neo rises to his feet. Because he has nothing else to loose. He is beyond life and death. He is beyond longing and purpose. Trinity is dead. She set him free.

"It is a shame you're also too blind to see you've become the very thing you despise. The very thing you hate. The very thing you kill again and again. A Virus you call us. You are a Virus now, Smith. A Virus to the Matrix. Spread and multiply until there's nothing left." Neo says pointing at him.

Smith nods to him.

"Then that makes me a hypocrite, doesn't it? Maybe if I took off these sunglasses, and showed you have blue eyes, I wouldn't be so blind. Then again, probably not." Smith agrees.

Then Neo stands there, and shows his power. He puts his hand up, and does his move. That gesture with his hand, the one that says "Come on, I dare you." Smith frowns in anger. And they begin to fight again.

From delusion lead me to truth.

From darkness lead me to light.

From death lead me to immortality.

Their fight soon becomes a ballet of shadows.

As they stand in front of the light, in front of the glass. Beyond the glass is Smith's world. All we see are shadows. And it is amazing.

Then Smith looses his sunglasses.

Smith has become so human. Perhaps it is because he developed hatred by himself, or he learned it with Neo's help when their connection was made. But Smith has become everything horrible in humanity. He is evil, he is a liar, he runs on power and greed. And he's a hypocrite. He hates humanity, yet he has become it. He hates Viruses yet now he is one. And the Matrix, that he would've given anything to destroy before, he now fights to protect it. After all it isn't a zoo anymore, it's his zoo. And he's so blind to that fact. So angry, running on hatred he can't even see it.

It makes you pity the former Agent that was ready to commit suicide. It makes you wonder if he can feel anything else. Maybe you want him to. Maybe you want to believe even the most evil of people can change.

After all, if Smith could hate so passionately, isn't he capable of much more?

Too bad, he's too blind to give in to happiness. Maybe Neo would've offered to help, if he asked. But he didn't, so it doesn't matter.

And Neo has become the complete opposite. But that is what they are. Opposites. They are an equation created by the system. The system trying to balance the world.

Neo is all that is good in humanity. He is the messiah, finally realizing he is the messiah. Not only is he The One now. He is the Source. Or soon will be. For when Trinity died, Neo lost everything. He lost his purpose and his divinity. Without these things, he didn't choose to die, he chose to live, and become something great. Neo has grown beyond the ultimate system all alone. He has gone beyond himself.

Then they take to the skies again. With their wings, they fly higher and higher. An Angel and a Demon.

And slowly, the Angel begins to fall.

Smith then shows his wings. The wings made of lighting. This is his world now, and his world has given him wings.

Then together, they fall to the ground.

In the mud, and the dirt, the have fallen. And Smith stares at Neo, and watches him slowly cling to life, as he breathes again.

And Smith cannot comprehend why.

"Why, Mr. Anderson, why? Why, why do you do it? Why, why get up? Why keep fighting? Do you believe you're fighting for something, for more than your survival? Can you tell me what it is, do you even know? Is it freedom? Or truth? Perhaps peace? Could it be for love? Illusions, Mr. Anderson. Vagaries of perception. Temporary constructs of a feeble human intellect trying desperately to justify an existence that is without meaning or purpose. And all of them as artificial as the Matrix itself. Although, only a human mind could invent something as insipid as love. You must be able to see it, Mr. Anderson, you must know it by now! You can't win; it's pointless to keep fighting! Why, Mr. Anderson, why, why do you persist? Do you notice, Mr. Anderson? Do see I always ask questions, because I am forever not going to understand. Why? Because I don't want to. If I understand I will become. If I understand you, I will become you. Sadly I've already become far too human to realize this." Smith yells.

"Because I choose to. And all those things you said Smith, you're wrong. That's what I was fighting for. That is what I have been fighting for. But not anymore. I don't care about peace or love anymore. Because Trinity is gone. She was half of me, Smith. Half of me is gone, and all that remains inside me is me, and part of you. I couldn't let her go last time, now I can. I let go of those things. I don't care what happens to the world now. But I fight because I choose to fight. Because I have broken all boundaries and made a choice. I have accepted what I am. And I am human, something you'll never become."Neo says.

Then all Neo has left, punches Smith into the ground. And the copies stare at Neo, like the human he is.

"This is my world! My world! My zoo! My prison! My rain! My Matrix!" Smith yells, rising from the ground.

And then Neo falls, one last time.

From delusion lead me to truth.

From darkness lead me to light.

From death lead me to immortality.

"Wait... I've seen this. This is it, this is the end. Yes, you were laying right there, just like that, and I... I... I stand here, right here, I'm... I'm supposed to say something. I say... Everything that has a beginning has an end, Neo." Smith says.

The words of The Oracle. But it's not the Oracle speaking through Smith. It's Smith. It really is Smith. And he has no idea why he just said it. Beyond Smith, behind every motion, every word there is purpose in them. But these words, these words that slip through his mouth. That name, "Neo." There is no purpose in those words...And it scares him.

"What, did I just say? No...No this isn't right. This can't be right. Get away from me!"

And the fear shows.

Neo stands there, hearing the words of the Oracle. Her last message to him. This is it. Time to let go.

"What are you afraid of?" Neo asks.

"It's a trick!" Smith yells.

Neo should be dead. But he's not. Because Neo has made his choice, the choice Smith could not see beyond.

"You were right, Smith, you were always right. It was inevitable."

And Smith stares at him, no longer sure of his future, of his world.

"You know, if I wasn' t so scared. If I wasn't such a hypocrite. If I wasn't so greedy. If I was still an Agent. I'd stand here, and think about this. And I'd realize once I copy you, I'll die. So then instead I would either choke you to death, or put a bullet in your head." Smith says.

"Too bad you're so scared." Neo says.

"Yes, too bad."

Then Smith copies Neo.

"When consciousness that is in the eye turns back, the dying man no longer sees any form. "He is becoming one," they say; "he does not see. "He is becoming one," they say; "he does not smell. "He is becoming one," they say; "he does not taste. "He is becoming one," they say; "he does not speak. "He is becoming one," they say; "he does not hear. "He is becoming one," they say; "he does not think or touch or know." Neo says in death.

Because that is what's happening to him. When dying, this is what happens to him. Neo is dead, and he becomes everything.

What used to be Neo, is now a copy of Smith. And this Smith, sees nothing, smells nothing, tastes nothing, speaks nothing, hears nothing, or touch or think or know anything. That copy simply nods, and becomes death for Neo.

"Is it over? I want it to be over? I want to fall to my knees and sleep. I never want to wake again. I never want to feel fear again. I never want to feel again. I just want to be." Smith says.

The copy simply nods.

From delusion lead me to truth.

From darkness lead me to light.

From death lead me to immortality.

Then Neo becomes the Source. The Source powers the machines, it is their essence. And connected to the machines, Neo begins to suck the Source from them, and become it. Forever will he be the Source now. And as the Source, he begins the deletion of the Smith virus.

Becoming the Source, Neo has united Man and Machine forever. For the essence that was the machines, is now part human. Neo is the Source. He is the thing that gives Machine life. He is the Source. He is the Matrix. He is The One.

Man and Machine are equal now. Machine now part human, leave something for all humans to see. There is a plaque just for Neo in the Matrix. And with the respect Smith had for Neo, they call him Thomas. "In memory of Thomas Anderson."

"I am the Source now." Neo turns to Smith, as they stand above the plaque plated on a park bench.

"Does that mean you are alive?" Smith asks another question.

"I'm not sure." Neo says.

"What will happen to me?" Smith asks.

"You're inside me, Smith. That part of you is inside me."

"So I will live through you?"

"Yes."

"Good."

"I am the Source." Neo says again.

From delusion lead me to truth.

From darkness lead me to light.

From death lead me to immortality.


End file.
